Let’s be totally honest: Rocker Lita Ford didn’t get famous because she was the best guitarist in the world or the best singer.

She got famous because she was a sexy blonde who could play (decent) guitar and (sorta) sing rock songs when rock still was a man’s world – first in the late-1970s jailbait band The Runaways with Joan Jett, then in a 1980s solo career. And her cheesecake album covers acknowledged that.

Nearly 25 years after Ford’s heyday, her concert Thursday at Penn’s Peak near Jim Thorpe showed nothing has changed.

Lita Ford at Penn's PeakPhotos by Brian Hineline/Special to The Morning Call

Ford is still a good (not great) guitarist, and a proficient (really not great) singer. But nearing 54, she still approaches a show as if she’s in her 20s – dressed in a snug, one-piece black leather suit, whipping her long blond hair and striking poses, talking about the rock lifestyle and firing riffs with metal machismo.

But she’s still better to watch than listen to.

Her 90-minute show consisted mostly of bland rockers that weren’t bad, just nothing special. Nine of the 15 she played were from the 1980s, and the five songs she played from her new album, “Living Like a Runaway,” released in June as only her second in 17 years, were among her rocking-est.

She opened with the new album’s cover of Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back” – a declaration, no doubt; she changed the lyrics to “I’m going to be your bitch tonight” and closed with a pointed “the bitch is back!”

The song immediately showed the limitations of her voice; her occasional rasp was best. It was even weaker on the second song, the title track from her1983 solo debut “Out For Blood.” The impressively speedy guitar work on that song was better.

And on the third song, her 1984 breakthrough “Gotta Let Go,” she demonstrated some of that young approach – pounding her forehead with her fists as she sang, swinging her hair and dancing in front of her three-man band’s drum kit.

One surprise was the reminder of how much her music was lighter pop-metal. She proudly told the crowd – small at perhaps 300 – that it was one of the first songs played on MTV; and that was when MTV didn’t play metal.

The songs from her new did were harder. The autobiographical title song to “Living Like a Runaway” gave a hint at her attitude: “It still feels like yesterday,” she sang, to some of her better guitar playing. “Branded” was much harder, with Ford playing decent slide guitar.

And “Devil in My Head” and “Bad Neighborhood” were thumping sludge rockers – though on the former she sang an a cappella verse before it kicked in.

That song also showed Ford’s rustiness with headlining (she’s been opening for Def Leppard and Poison). She stopped the song a minute in to start over, then forgot the words. And before “Relentless,” which sounded a lot like Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen,” she said, “We’re going to play a new song; hope we don’t f--- it up.”

But to her credit she acknowledged it, saying, “Tomorrow it’s back to work. Tonight it’s fun.” Later, realizing she had messed up the set list, she said, “I screwed up, who cares? It’s my show, who gives a sh--.”

The rest of the songs were largely forgettable, though they had their moments. “Hungry” – the only 1990s song she played, she ironically introduced it as “an old song” – had good guitar and was energetic, and she again had rock attitude on the lyrics “I’ve got to have your sex.”

“Back to the Cave” had an intuitive guitar solo instead of shredding; she played facing the drums with her back to the crowd. And “Under the Gun” was slower and smoky – figuratively and literally as stage fog rolled in. She introduced 1988’s “Can’t Catch Me” by proudly noting she wrote it with Lemmy from Motorhead and “it’s a rocker.”

But it was her poppier material with which she closed the show – and which, not coincidentally, were her biggest hits. “Dancin’ on the Edge,” the title track from her 1984 album, was used in the new movie “Rock of Ages.”

The quieter “Close My Eyes Forever,” her 1988 hit duo with Ozzy Osbourne, was meant to showcase her vocals, but her voice was perhaps at its weakest. The crowd helped her, singing along.

And she closed with a five-minute version of her biggest hit, 1988’s “Kiss Me Deadly,” far closer to pop than rock.

What a crappy and insulting review. You're obviously not a fan. I just saw Lita Tuesday (opening for Poison) and she was as great as she was in the 80's. I'll say this... Her career has been spotty because she's taken some bad advice and tried to please many masters - but - she IS a fantastic guitar player, and her songs, and her approach to her songs, is worth the price of admission. Save your dismissive sexist comments for bands like Bitch, Doro, and Oral - Lita is a living legend!

Posted By: Christopher Bell | Jul 14, 2012 3:05:02 AM

Well i have to agree with Christopher, the reviewer is certainly not a fan and should not have been the one send by this website to review Lita's gig.
Lita is by far the best female guitar player and if i have to partially agree with you about her voice, that is not like it was in her A days, she still can deliver a song, she still is a passionnate artist..and she looks darn good for her age.
Kudos to you Lita YOU ROCK !!

Posted By: Pierre | Jul 18, 2012 5:14:05 PM

Lita is still worth the price of admission. She's still one bad-ass babe with that guitar and she looks great for 54. It's not easy getting up there and rocking your heart out every other night for fans. My call: she's still one of the best!

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JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.